Artist : Robert Henke
Title : Atom / Document
Genre : Electronic
Year : 2008
Date : 12/19/2008
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 09
Label : Imbalance Computer Music
Source : Vinyl
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 53:14 min
Size : 76,9 MB
Tracklist:
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01.[_flicker] 04:53
02.[quad_planar] 03:27
03.[shift_register] 06:55
04.[_convex] 03:51
05.[metropol] 05:08
06.[first_contact] 08:16
07.[diagonal] 06:29
08.[crossing] 06:38
09.[_exit] 07:37
-------
53:14 min
CD album | vinyl album
This CD contains the music written for the Atom performance by Christopher Bauder and Robert Henke.
But since the performance is based on lots of spontaneous interaction between Christopher who controls
the height of the balloons in the matrix, and me who controls the LED patterns by triggering various
musical elements, each performance is different, and the recording only serves as a document of one
possible scenario.
The music for the performance has been created according to a few basic principles: there are floating
elements, that are not percussive and have no direct connection with the LEDs in the balloons. There are
percussive elements, where in each piece each percussive element has to trigger an LED. And there are
no percussive elements allowed that do not trigger LEDs. This strict conceptual approach made it possible
to come up with impressive music and LED movements in a very limited period of time in 2007, before the
first performance. Also each piece contains only four channels of percussive sounds, a deliberate
limitation which made it possible to control the audio part of the performance entirely via a hardware MIDI
controller box.
In early 2008 I decided to release the music of the performance on CD. I wanted to create more attention
for the performance, I wanted to expose the photos of it, and I felt the musical effort deserves to be
conserved too.
However, when working on it, I more and more came to the conclusion that in order to work without the
massive visual stimulation, the music needs to be much more sophisticated and composed. I spent a lot
of time refining each detail of the sounds and the patterns. Some of the pieces I rebuilt from scratch, and in
some cases I went in a totally wrong direction and came back to a much earlier version after weeks of
unsuccessful attempts.
The result is the most 'serious' album I created so far, and it marks a new coordinate in my musical
universe, with its combination of noisy and rough industrial sounds, processed piano, and distant drones.
The album has been composed, mixed and edited entirely in Ableton Live 7, using many instances of the
Operator synthesizer, recordings of a very loud and very big high-voltage transformer and a recording of
some piano notes.
The vinyl edition is a heavy 180 gramm pressing in a luxury gatefold cover with full color print.
Produced by Robert Henke 2007- 2008
Mastering by Rashad Becker.
Photos by Justine Lera.
Design by snc.